


Prompto's Home for Zombie Pets

by sylvermyth



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Necromancy, Silly, Zombies, cute undead critters, except it's not evil, prompto is a cinnamon roll of a necromancer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 15:19:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11405118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylvermyth/pseuds/sylvermyth
Summary: "Is it…sanitary?" Prompto huffed, but Ignis barreled on. "I mean, if you're going to keep her, you know you have to take care of her properly. I won't be cleaning a litter box or anything, either." Ignis's expression turned skeptical. "Will she need…a litter box? Food?" Ignis cleared his throat.Prompto gathered Necrobo in his arms and stood, so he could stare Ignis down—or at least attempt to. "You mean, because she's undead."(In which Prompto is the nicest necromancer ever)





	Prompto's Home for Zombie Pets

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this](http://king-nerdlord.tumblr.com/post/159310221469/necromancer-did-you-know-that-dinosaur-skeletons).
> 
> This was incredibly self-indulgent and kind of a blast to write (and probably a bit ridiculous), and I really just love Prompto, so there's also that. Hoorah!

It wasn't—he hadn't done it on purpose, the first time. The spell had been scrawled on a scrap of parchment he'd found tucked into a dog-eared tome that he'd unearthed at one of the used bookstores (he'd already forgotten which because Iggy always insisted on visiting ALL of the bookstores) without any title or description of what the spell did. And really, he should've been tipped off when it called for a blood sacrifice, but magic was fickle and unspecific and "blood sacrifice" didn't always mean something had to die, so he'd tried it, anyway, nicking his finger just enough for a couple drops.

The rush of magic was unmistakable when Prompto finished the incantation—and really, his grasp of Latin wasn't _that bad_ , and that should've been an indication, too—so he knew it had worked. He just didn't know what exactly "it" was until the chocobo chick dragged itself into the little lean-to he'd been using as his base. It was covered in dirt and only slightly more gruesome than it had been when they'd found the poor thing, mauled and gurgling blood in its final breaths, one wing dangling by a strip of cartilage. The rest of the guys had humored him when Prompto wanted to give it a funeral and proper burial in the yard. At least it hadn't had far to go.

Well, okay. Maybe he'd known _a little_ what the spell could entail, but he hadn't been sure it'd work. Really.

And, okay, necromancy was definitely not something he'd ever considered taking up, considering the reputation, and it was probably a little unnatural, and gross (rotted corpses, ew), but Prompto wouldn't _abuse_ his knowledge. He definitely didn't want an undead army, and didn't have any evil ambitions. He just wanted to be with his friends and have fun, and he didn't need a zombie horde to do that—they'd probably just get in the way, anyway.

And smell. Ignis would surely complain about the mess, and the smell. Noct and Gladio probably would, too, but Ignis would have a _fit_.

But the baby chocobo was just…it wasn't right for its life to end like that! Without having known the wonder of the world, or the joy of friendship. It totally deserved a second chance, and Prompto was happy that he could give it one.

Except, reanimating the corpse was the extent of the spell. Of that much he was certain. No idea how to fix the physical damage—but that didn't seem to be bothering the chick, in any case—and no way to put it back, if he had even wanted to. It stared at him with eyes that were brighter than he would've expected from something that had spent time being dead, expectant, somehow, and unfazed by Prompto's typical restless motion.

Of course, since Prompto had brought it back, he couldn't do anything but take responsibility. So maybe he couldn't exactly fix the injuries, but he _could_ bandage them so they wouldn't offend the eye (and the precariously dangling wing wouldn't fall off) and by _then_ , well. Since there was no turning back, he had to name it.

"Necrobo." Noctis lifted an eyebrow when Prompto introduced his new companion to the group (he'd had to—Necrobo followed him everywhere; it would've been impossible to hide her), but it was followed by a small smile. Noct was like that, sometimes: quiet, accepting. Letting Prompto's chatter speak for the both of them.

"You named it Necrobo, what the hell kind of name is that?" This from Gladio, but with a name like Gladiolus, he really didn't have room to talk. Even if it was a friendly rib. Prompto scowled (though really it was more of a frown, because Prompto could never get angry enough to scowl at his friends).

"Prompto." Ah, Iggy. Prompto's scowl (frown) deepened, recognizing the careful tone, the sharp eyes flicking over his chick, calculating. "Prompto," Ignis began again, adjusting his glasses, "you have a…chocobo."

Prompto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, duh, it's a chocobo. _My_ chocobo." He crouched down next to Necrobo, beaming up at Ignis. "Isn't she _awesome?_ "

Another of those looks. "Is it…sanitary?" Prompto huffed, but Ignis barreled on. "I mean, if you're going to keep her, you know you have to take care of her properly. I won't be cleaning a litter box or anything, either." Ignis's expression turned skeptical. "Will she need…a litter box? Food?" Ignis cleared his throat.

Prompto gathered Necrobo in his arms and stood, so he could stare Ignis down—or at least attempt to. "You mean, because she's undead."

Ignis frowned. "I realize she looks unhealthy, but I didn't mean to imply…" Noctis's snort was unmistakable, and Gladio looked stricken.

"There's no implying anything, Ignis; I brought her back to life myself! Somehow."

"As a zombie chocobo." Noctis's voice held a hint of amusement. "That's not exactly alive, Prom."

"Necrobo," Prompto corrected. "And she doesn't seem to mind! Do you, girl?" He was rewarded with a small trill.

"I'm not even going to ask," Gladio grumbled, raising his hands in defeat. "I'll be training in the yard. Noct! Let's go!" Gladio half-dragged a protesting Noctis in the direction of the training yard, and Prompto was left to continue his Ignis stare-down.

"I won't ask, either," Ignis said finally. "But necromancy is not something to be played with, Prompto."

Prompto pouted. "It's just a baby chocobo."

It was not, in fact, just a baby chocobo.

Necrobo didn't smell, as it turned out, at least, nothing worse than the smell of damp earth, and neither did she decompose any further than when she'd emerged from her grave—for which Prompto was eternally grateful, because he imagined that would be rather terrifying, and he still didn't know how to un-undead her (not that he had any reason to find a way, once the decomposition was out of the equation). She followed him around like a familiar, and even if she did act strange at times, he liked the company. Anyway, who was he to turn someone away just because they were different? That was just rude, and he was, after all, still responsible for her.

He still didn't want a horde of undead.

Just, Prompto felt incredibly bad for the baby tonberry that Noctis hit with his car, and it was too late for a phoenix down. Noctis felt bad, too, probably even worse than Prompto, but Prompto had been distracting him from the road, so it was really more his fault than Noct's.

And, okay, Prompto _had_ paid some attention to his lessons, and he couldn't be _sure_ that the spell was legit unless it was repeatable. Because he really wasn't, but it really was. Repeatable.

He tried to explain that to Ignis, who stared at him with narrowed eyes when Noctis extracted the undead tonberry from Prompto's side of the car. Necrobo poked her head from behind Prompto's legs, and maybe that didn't help his case much.

"You of all people should understand, Ignis!" Prompto knew his eyes were wide as he tried to make his case. "You're the most logical person I know."

"I named him Roadkill," Noctis said, deadpan.

"Right, he's got a name! We can't give him back now, Ignis. It'd just be mean. Heartless, really."

Ignis gave him one of his measured looks. "Just be careful. However you're doing it, there's not a lot known about necromancy, and there are reasons for that. Don't do anything stupid."

Prompto waved him off. "It's fine, Iggy, it's not like I'm trying to take over the world or anything."

"This is exactly how the end of the world starts," was all Gladio had to say, although he didn't otherwise protest the addition of another undead pet in their midst.

The next time—the next _few times_ —were truly accidents. Prompto didn't even say the incantation, just, thought it in his head. Maybe he was also picking at a scab at the same time, and bled a little, but that was totally unintentional.

It became a bit of a collection, after that: all small or baby animals, cute, if a bit gruesome, hobbling or crawling around his apartment, and at least they don't require much care, aside from Prompto's attention, which he gladly gives. Nor do they make much noise (aside from the occasional breakable, but he didn't have many of those to begin with), so the neighbors don't complain, but his apartment _has_ begun to smell a bit like a crypt, somewhere between earthy and musty.

Noctis remained amused by the whole situation, but Prompto started hiding his new pets from Gladio after the tonberry, and from Ignis after _the unmentionable incident_ , so Prompto's apartment became welcome to Noctis only. Which wasn't really any different from before, since they tended to congregate at Noct's or in the palace grounds, anyway.

But that didn't stop Noctis from grinning at Prompto and pointing at the dinosaur skeleton in the Lucis Museum of Natural History. "Dude!" he hissed, "Can you imagine _that_ fitting in your apartment, Prom?"

It was a little mortifying…but also possibly the coolest thing he could imagine using his necromancy for. But, "I'm really not sure it would work for something that big, Noct." He might've once thought that a corpse would need flesh to hold it together and move it, but nope, he'd tested that, too, and had a skeletal mouse he called Bones that liked to nest in Necrobo's feathers. "Or that old," he added as an afterthought. But Noct was making faces or eyes or _something_ at him, and he was admittedly weak in the face of that. And curious. He was also very curious.

So he tried.

And failed.

Actually, it was the first time he'd failed, and that was…disappointing. So he tried again, and then frowned at Noctis, and that turned into a whole week of museum visits, all of the ones that had dinosaur skeletons rigged up.

He was more than a little bummed that it hadn't worked, because his cheerful mask slipped, and maybe Noctis didn't notice, but he caught Gladio frowning at him, eyebrows high and concerned, and Ignis gave him one of those shoulder clasps that meant he was there if Prompto needed him without the mess of words.

But even if Noct didn't notice (which was great, really; he was supposed to be the one normal thing in the prince's life), he still had the right idea for cheering him up.

"Maybe it's because they're old," Noct muttered. "But I bet you can handle something big." He wouldn't say where they were going when Prompto got in the car, or even after his incessant babbling, but Prompto grinned when Noctis parked a short way away from the catoblepas carcass.

"Dude, no way! That thing's huge!" Prompto gaped; it was possibly even bigger than some of the dinosaurs skeletons they'd seen.

"Right? So you gonna do it or what? C'mon, Prom, wow me."

Prompto made a strangled noise, half glee and half nerves, but he was totally going to do it. He was totally going to have a pet catoblepas, and it was going to be _the best_. "I'm going to name you," Prompto called to the still corpse, "I'm going to name you, uhm." He stopped his brainstorm for the perfect name to concentrate on the spell and pricked his thumb, and then he couldn't think at all as it _actually lurched to its feet and_ "HOLY SHIT NOCT IT ACTUALLY WORKED!"

"Yeah. Good job, Prom. Never doubted you." Noct patted at him absently, his eyes fixed on the thing towering over them. Not that it was threatening, just _huge_ , and Prompto had to admit he couldn't stop staring, either.

"Uhm, Noct?" Noctis hummed a response. "That's definitely not going to fit in my apartment. Just saying."

"Nope."

"Sooooo. What am I supposed to do with it?"

Noctis shrugged. "Put it back?"

Prompto's hands flew of their own accord, gesturing wildly as he rounded on Noctis. "Just, put it back? Really? Rude! I brought it back, I can't just go and kill it again. That's just mean."

"I mean, it was already dead, right? Just undo it."

"Just undo it," Prompto muttered, "like it's really that simple."

"You _can_ undo it, right?"

"No!"

Noctis glanced over at Prompto. "What do you mean, 'No.'"

"I mean," Prompto's voice shrank, "I don't know how."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"We should…go get Ignis." Noctis started backing towards the car.

"It'll probably follow me if I leave," Prompto sighed.

"Oh."

Prompto rolled his eyes and dug his phone out of his pocket, his stomach sinking as he tapped the screen to call Ignis. There was surely a lecture forthcoming, but maybe if he didn't _tell_ Ignis that what he wanted to put back was a _freaking catoblepas_ , it wouldn't be so bad.

Of course, it was Ignis, and Prompto wasn't as clever as he'd thought, because Ignis's sigh sounded put-upon even through speakerphone.

"What could be worse than the coeurl cub?" And Prompto definitely hadn't told him about that one, so he probably also knew about the others that Prompto hadn't told him about, which explained the long-suffering sigh. Well, that was a conversation for later, he decided. Immediate problems first.

But leading with 'catoblepas' sounded like an awful idea, so Prompto launched into the explanation about the dinosaurs first, to which Ignis listened with…well, not undying patience. And by the end of the explanation, even Prompto wasn't convinced whether a catoblepas was better or worse than dinosaurs, but Ignis was on his way to their location, so that was…something.

The catoblepas was lumbering around at the edge of the water when Ignis arrived, with Gladio in tow. For back-up, probably.

"So, uh, guys…we aren't just going to fight it like a daemon, are we? Cause it's not…it's not mean or evil or anything. Just undead." Prompto offered a lopsided grin, eying Gladio's bulging muscles, the displeased tilt of his mouth. Ignis just looked mildly annoyed, which on him meant he was more likely _pissed_.

"No." Ignis's voice was clipped, and, yeah, he was definitely angry, but he was also holding out a piece of paper to Prompto, which, what was a piece of paper going to do about an undead catoblepas?

Prompto said as much. "How's a piece of paper going to help with an undead catoblepas?"

Ignis leveled a glare at him, but it was Gladio who grit out, "Maybe you should read it and find out."

And, "Oh," it was another spell. Except this one was clearly labeled with description and everything, and it didn't so much kill the undead as release them from the magic animating them, so it sounded…pretty clean and painless. "Okay. Yeah."

Ignis's voice softened. "Anyone with magic can do it, but I thought it better if you did it yourself."

"I—yeah. It's my responsibility." Prompto looked up at the catoplebas. "Sorry, big guy." The spell was simple enough, compared to the reanimation spell, and it certainly seemed like the catoplebas didn't even notice the magic leaving it. Like hitting the undo button, and Prompto turned back to his friends, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry, guys. I guess I got a little carried away."

Noctis had a crooked, guilty smirk on his lips. "I wasn't exactly helping you there."

Prompto smiled a little and pushed his shoulder. "Not you."

Ignis offered a gentle smile. "We know you Prompto. If you got any more carried away, we would've steered you right again."

Gladio clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I trust you. It's the undead I don't trust. If they ever get out of hand, I'm prepared to fight for the fate of the world."

Ignis snorted. "A chocobo and a tonberry are not going to destroy the world."

Gladio gave Ignis a scandalized look. "You say that now, but—"

Prompto's laughter cut him off. "Thanks. You guys are really the best."

"I thought I was number one," Noct protested, and Prompto swung around and pulled him into a hug.

"Yep. Number one _pain in the ass_."

"Hey!"

"Still," Prompto mused as they meandered towards the cars, "Is it because the dinosaurs are too old, or what? Cause it's definitely not a size thing. Inquiring minds want to know. Hypothetically. Although," he rambled, "now that I know it can be easily undone…"

Gladio looked alarmed at this. "No. Not even for a moment. No dinosaurs. No behemoths. No, nope, nada."

Ignis laughed. "I'm not surprised you couldn't get it to work on the skeletons we saw in the museum, Prompto, considering they were never alive to begin with."

Prompto and Noctis yelped in unison. "What!"

"Are you telling us dinosaurs aren't real? I don't believe you."

"They're real enough, but fossils are usually too delicate to be strung up as a skeleton like that. Usually they're kept in a vault instead. Not to mention the fact that many recovered skeletons are incomplete, so they must be reconstructed. Not that an incomplete corpse has stopped you," he added wryly.

"That's…still kind of disappointing," Prompto muttered.

"You know," Noctis confided, "there's some historical vaults in the citadel. We could look for a real skeleton."

Prompto grinned and threw his arm around Noct. "That's what I'm talking about!"


End file.
